LE BOURGET, France — Thousands of Iranians from across Europe gathered here in support of the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its leader, Maryam Rajavi, who was recently freed from French judicial restrictions that had limited her movement.

Rajavi's message Saturday to the crowd of 10,000 or more just outside Paris was that Iran needed neither nuclear weapons nor nuclear power but rather secular democracy, presumably led by Rajavi herself or her husband, Massoud Rajavi, who is now presumed to be in hiding in Iraq.

But the meeting's deeper message was that the Rajavi organization was still alive and biding its time.

The national council, which Maryam Rajavi heads, has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States because of the violent tactics of its military arm.

Iran on Sunday again rejected a deadline to respond to an international proposal aimed at ending the stand-off over its nuclear program, saying it would respond in a month from now, The New York Times reported from Baghdad.

"We do not consider such statements as constructive and invite them to wait for our answer until next month," said Hamidreza Assefi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, according to a report by the ISNA press agency. The next Iranian month begins on July 23.

Regarding the deadline to respond, Assefi was referring to a meeting of Group of 8 industrialized nations last Thursday in Russia, during which world powers demanded that Iran make a reply to the proposal in a week.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad previously said that Iran would give its answer around Aug. 23.

Assefi said: "We will take into account our country's rights and interests and will also try to alleviate the other side's concerns. But that does not mean that we will sacrifice our own interests." He added that Europe should be thankful that Iran was "examining the proposal with such a positive attitude and precision."

Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, Russia, Britain, France and the United States - offered Iran a package of proposals in June.

Details of the package have not been made public, but diplomats have said it includes political and economic incentives and a promise to help develop Iran's nuclear program in return for ending its enrichment program.